Chapter 37

Note: Sorry readers, I was sent a message saying my chapter was smashed together and I checked it myself and it was indeed. Seems the word I was using did not agree with the format of fanfiction. I am adjusting the chapter to try and correct this issue. I had to manually correct every scene and now cross my fingers in hoping that this works.

Regal's ship slid up onto the sands off the coast near Meltokio as he turned to look at Zelos, the man had sat on the port side of the hoverboat and hanged his arms on the steel railings; staring off into the distance for most of their trip.

When they had returned to the manor, Lloyd was gone when they returned for him at the manor and Regal was honestly not too surprised. The young man was so headstrong that he would face the entire world if it went against who he was and the red clothed swordsman would not even think twice about it.

That had upset Zelos on a level and left the normally cheerful young chosen into a stage of silence and probably heavy contemplation; but Regal was no mind reader...his wisdom and insight however made it so he did not have to be when dealing with the younger generation. He was not claiming they were simple to understand...just that he had been there in that same stage of life.

The both of them had also gone to Iselia and found out they were actually days too late and so the two of them continued their search for Lloyd and Sheena, learning of the purple ninja from the major of the small village.

"Zelos...are you sure you want to head to Meltokio?" Regal responded as he remembered their encounter with Valemeros there and he knew that that would only cause some conflicts.

"It is the only place we know for certain that everyone will show up, eventually we all will have to return to Meltokio." Zelos confessed as he rested his chin on the railing.

"I understand." Regal nodded once before looking at the mountains that hid the capital city of Tethe'alla.

When they started their approach of the city, Regal had that sinking feeling as he turned to look at Zelos.

"We will need a lot of explaining to do when we enter, I am not sure they will listen to us at first. We did attack one of the King's advisers and to top it off we attacked the knights of the city to get out." Regal spoke out in his calm manner.

"Nah, I wouldn't worry about it so much." Zelos dismissed.

"This isn't a game...I...I think maybe you should take the sewers." Regal grimly stated.

"What? Why do you want me to trudge through that underground swamp?" Zelos frowned for a moment at the thought of having to walk through the dirty underground once more.

"If we are arrested on spot then we might not get a chance to speak our case for days and in that time it would become widely known of our arrest and who would that worry most, Zelos?" Regal pointed out; it took a moment before Zelos blinked once and looked at Regal with a solemn expression. "That is exactly why you need to think of her condition. I will try and deal with the king...you need to get your sister out of the city before she gets involved in this whole thing."

"Seles..." Zelos whispered softly before looking over his shoulder, realizing the importance of heading into the city undetected. "Regal...it is a lot to ask but..." Zelos trailed off.

"You are not asking...I offered, now go." Regal demanded.

"You better not get yourself banged up on my behalf." Zelos uttered out.

"You better get your sister to safety. I'll promise if you do." Regal confronted before Zelos gave a very slight smile.

"I won't let anything happen to Seles...ever." Zelos commented before taking Regal up on the unspoken promise between the two comrades.

Regal let out a breath as he walked towards the gates of the kingdom that he knew would not be exactly inviting him with open arms, but he was confident that he would be able to speak to the kind and maybe shed some light on the corrupt dealings that one of his advisers and if he could save Lloyd some trouble by putting eyes on Lord Valemeros so the man would have to lay low and give Lloyd a moment of peace and any second of recovery could prove to be exactly what they all need.

The moment Regal approached the entrance of the city he could swear the air thickened with tension as the sounding of metal sliding against plate surface was heard by his keen ears by the turning helmets of the knights guarding the entrance, there were more guards than normal and that meant a lot, since the merging of the worlds there had only been an increase of security.

"Seize him!" the gate captain barked out as six knights rushed forward and surrounded the noble president while pointing their weapons at him and all Regal did in response was lift his hands up as if waiting for the shackled to be placed on his body.

Two guards stepped forward and sure enough they both made careful hast as the rattling chains filled the air and the snapping of metallic links were bound to his wrists as Regal glanced down calmly at the familiar sight before him.

"You are under arrest for suspect of high treason to the crown and lands." the gate captain informed as the two guards grabbed Regal by his shoulders to subdue the man.

Zelos pushed the lid open that would lead him to Meltokio streets in a back alley as he popped his head out; confident that the streets were clear he pushed himself out if the manhole and carefully slide the heavy covering back into place, the moment the lid made it's loud thump he felt his heart thunder for a moment as he looked around like a paranoid squirrel before he felt that he was actually in the clear for the time being.

When normally a casual, dismissing comment would have come to his mind he found his mind unwilling to produce it as he turned his head towards the direction of his manor and started his walk, weaving and slithering through the concealing and keenly memorized narrow passages between the buildings of the grand capital city. He was quite thankful that the sun was setting, it would be easier to get passed the guards in the darkness, where he would from time to time jump from rooftop to rooftop gracefully he knew that is exactly what the guards would be watching for this time around.

It did not take long for Zelos to reach his manor as he slipped into the grassy garden, casting his scanning eyes around the area as if expecting his manor to be crawling with knights that would wish to apprehend him and drag him off to the castle before he would be able to make sure that Seles was still alright, with her deteriorating health, he could not bare worrying her more than he should be. His eyes instinctively looked up towards the balcony of his manor as he gave a slight smirk, he would be a fool to just walk in the front door like nothing happened, what if there were knights actually inside his manor? Running towards one of the trees in his yard, the young noble ran up the bark surface and kicked off the surface before reaching out to grab the edge of his balcony, hanging there for a moment he gave a light grunt and pulled himself high up into the air before landing to a crouch on the balcony surface, placing the palm of his hand flat against the cold surface.

His mind allowed one moment to reflect on the jesting inner comment of how Sheena was not the only one who could preform graceful and quiet entrances; if only she knew this part of him and maybe she would accept him a little more, but he could not help it...when he saw her he just lost control of who he was and the one who seemed to irritate her came to the surface...like the little boy who pulled the girls pigtails in school to tell her that he liked her.

Brushing that thought aside, Zelos entered a more cold and serious demeanour as he slowly stood to his feet and walked towards the glass door before glancing into the window, he knew what was on the other side of the glass door and that would be the library of the noble manor that was not often visited since Zelos inherited the land and now proved to be one of Seles favourite spots to relax and educate herself...she continued to surprise him how smart she actually was now that he could spend so much time with her and he would be damned if he let anything happen to her.

Slowly twisting the bronze door handle, Zelos felt his skin shiver for a moment when it gave a small, almost unnoticeable creak that sounded like the snapped of thunder in the crisp air to him. He managed to pull the door open and step into the dark room before he twisted around and carefully closed the door behind him. Letting out a light smile he closed his eyes for a moment.

One of the lamps of the room lit as Zelos pressed his teeth together almost painfully as he spun around, his hand grabbing for his short sword before he eased instantly at the sight before him.

"Seles!" Zelos exclaimed.

"Oh brother, I am so happy you are home...They have an arrest for you, it had me so worried on what would happen to you." Seles could not help but exclaim as he stepped over and gently placed her slender fingers on his shoulder, before looking to the side at the floor as if hiding her expression, not wanting him to see how worried she was about him.

"I know...let me explain everything, Seles." Zelos reassured in a calm, collected tone that he managed to hold for his sister.

"You don't have to...there is a way to get everything back to the way it was, the kind noble was nice enough to tell me of a way to avoid anything bad happening to you...or me." Seles smiled lightly, looking to the side as her eyes fell upon the darkened part of the room that could not be lit from the small lamp source sitting on the desk.

"Noble?" Zelos blinked as his eyes went from Seles to gaze on where she was looking as another light source that illuminated the entire room as Valemeros lowered his hand from the wall where the switch for light rested. Valemeros pulled his hand away from the wall and casually looked at his gloved hand before giving a sly smirk and then looking over to the red haired chosen.

"A pleasure to speak with you, Chosen." Valemeros smoothly whispered out as his deep lavender eyes seemed to stare deep into Zelos mind and soul.

"You!" Zelos hissed out as he grabbed his sword, gently pushing Seles behind him as he silently told her to get to safety. The sound of metal against sheath was heard quickly after Seles was safe as Zelos's eyes locked onto the sinister noble that had taken Sheena and for all he knew, this man could have already killed her or tortured her to insanity...he did not know but all he did know and would ever need to know as that this noble was the source of pain for him.

"Brother no!" Seles called out.

The red haired chosen slide his other arm to his side as his forearm slide perfectly into the leather strap of his lightweight buckler until it was combat ready as he stepped forward and charged the vile purple haired blight upon the lands of his home as well as his own life.

Zelos slashed down but found that his sword was repelled by an invisible shield of sorts as Valemeros's sly smirk transformed into a chuckle as he raised a hand and Zelos could swear he felt the feeling of hundreds of invisible hands grab his body as he became airborne, helpless to defend himself and before he could understand what happened he felt his body slam into the bookshelves as the wooden planks snapped, then scene exploding into books and loose pages before Zelos slammed onto the ground as the weight of the books pummelled his back.

Zelos pushed the books off of himself with an annoyed grunt as his mind flashed over what had just happened. He was airborne and then suddenly the world became a swirl, but not one of being thrown...it was one of spinning. It seemed that Valemeros had gone so far as to grab the man and spin him around Valemeros like an orbiting moon set to overdrive before tossing Zelos to the side like a piece of trash that was no longer amusing to him.

"Zelos!" Seles screamed out as she rushed over and placed both her hands on Zelos's shoulder and gently pulled at him to get his glare off the noble. "Please stop...listen to him."

Zelos only gave a growl as he pushed himself up to his feet and charged at the noble once more, his sword shimmering in a flicker of silver and red as he prepared his next attack in his mind, but not before clenching his opposite hand into a fist as lightning crackled to life in the library. Valemeros casually pocketed his hands as he seemed to be looking at one of the other bookshelves, as if not even paying attention before his head rolled to the side as his amused purple eyes watched the advance of the chosen and from what Zelos could tell, the man was even challenging him, daring him to come at him...Zelos would be sure to not to let him down.

Regal went quietly to the lower castle dungeons, escorted by a squad of knights as he kept his head held high. He knew it would be pointless to try and ask the guards to speak with the king or even the captain, they were trained to just do their job and currently that consisted of escorting him to the jail where he would rot for a night or two, but hopefully it would prove to draw any attention away from Zelos for an opportunity to get Seles out of the city before things got serious...in Valemeros managed to further his plans, whatever they were.

The guards escorted him into the jail, however this time it seemed to be the one reserved for "special" cases and those who would be getting treatment worthy of traitors to the crown and the fact he was a noble would only give a extra helping of said treatment. The shackles came off his wrists and the moment the links hit the stone guard, Regal heard the shifting of swords in their sheath around him as every knight went on guard, expecting Regal to struggle; however he would do no such thing and just wait it out till he could speak with the king. One knight stepped forward and strapped Regal's wrist into the manacle hanging from the ceiling of the dungeon cell as Regal's arm was lifted up and snapped into place, the action to be repeated with his opposite hand and his ankles snared into the shackles on the ground as all the knights tested the locks before leaving the noble to hang there and think about his crimes.

Sheena flipped a seal along her fingers until it sprang to her index and thumb as she looked intently at the designs on the surface, it was the only thing she could do to keep her mind occupied and away from the thoughts of Lloyd and what he was going to say in the cave at the entrance of the researcher.

Everything they had learned on Valemeros was also very troubling and she could tell it was pulling at the strings of Lloyd idealism and it would drive her insane just as it was troubling her deep down. She could be confident in one thing...if it troubled her, than Lloyd would be stuck in his own world trying to untangle the light from the dark.

Sheena stared directly at Cecil, he had planted himself on the edge of Monique's bedside and overlooked her recovery process. It was like in her mind she was hoping if she stared at him long enough that he would suddenly come to her and just answer all her troubling answers...but despite the questions the group had for him he kept his silence and remained by Monique's side.

Raine had made copies of the research logs and taken them with her and had spent her time in her own room with Genis by her side as the two minds of brilliance tried to figure out everything they could about the project that had involved the noble Valemeros.

'What do I do?' Sheena thought to herself as she gave out a light sigh while tucking the seal away in her tunic. The light shade of pink caught her attention as her eyes shifted to the side in an inquisitive manner before she saw the beautiful figure of Presea, sitting there with her chin resting peacefully on the hilt of her axe as she gave a soft sigh before looking over to Sheena with a soft smile.

Sheena could not help but let out a startled gasp as she sat straight up at the sight of the young woman. Sheena must have underestimated how much her troubled thoughts were preoccupying her mind because she did not even detect Presea sneaking up on her and making herself comfortable.

"Uh...Hi...Presea." Sheena nervously stated, she knew she should not have been so nervous around the former little warrior but in her mind she could not help but see her as a completely different woman. The image of Presea almost crushing Lloyd in her gleeful arms also made Sheena paranoid of the fact that Presea was still incredibly strong and how she managed to stand toe-to-toe against the likes of Valemeros when all of them put together could not penetrate the sheer force of the half-elf. Presea raised her hand to brush the long strands of pink hair from the side of her head to be tucked behind her ear as she gave an almost too shy wave towards the purple ninja.

"I'm still me, Sheena." Presea whispered lightly while her shining blue eyes scanned Sheena's reaction to her presence. Presea lifted her chin from the handle of her axe and then rested, replacing her chin with her overlapping hands as she leaned on the golden embroidered, green tempered axe. The young woman tried to reassure Sheena with a shy smile.

"Oh...no no, I am sorry...I did not mean...well not that you aren't..." Sheena stammered, she always cursed herself for her less than graceful manner of speaking when she was nervous and it only got worse when she was mad or infuriated with others...the few times that Lloyd's stubbornness and idealism pushed him away from her always robbed words from her mouth, making her unable to express exactly what he did to her at times. Now she was uneasy with what to say or ask Presea.

Sheena could not help but feel a little on edge however, Presea was a beautiful young woman already. She had grown waist length, silky pink hair with her creamy soft skin. Her attire was that Sheena could only describe as a comfortable, casual, and yet attractive set of adventurers clothes with a her tight sleeveless, white tank top along with her purple high collar long coat that also lacked their sleeves; the jacket was held to her shoulders by suspenders that actually resembled Lloyd's fashion. The suspenders clipped into the grey loose pants that were tucked into her silver plated boots that bared the symbol of the Lezerano Company, she also wore gloves that seemed to transform into arm warmers, a little more bulkier and thicker than the style of arm warmers that Sheena wore and unlike hers; Presea's gloves had light silver plating on the backs of her hands, once more baring the symbol of the Lezerano Company once more, the red bow in her hair that kept the pink strands in a pony tail, a bright red that actually matched Lloyd's jacket exactly. Sheena felt she had reason to feel even a little threatened by the warrior that also managed to perfectly embody the image of beauty.

"Relax." Presea smiled, the very image of her not only much older than she remembered startled Sheena, but just how much emotion she was able to capture in one single smile did as well. Last Sheena knew of her was a little girl just barely getting in touch with her feelings again the moment Lloyd managed to save her from the exsphere embedded in her chest. "I guess we have not seen each other in a long while...the moment I started to rapidly age, Regal kept a close watch over me because it...well it was extremely painful to have my body age so suddenly so quickly." Presea explain as he looked to the side with half closed eyes in the remembrance of her painful transition from girl to woman. "I wasn't able to leave my bed for a long while...Regal also became quite worried that I might not survive. He so much of Lezerano fiances on doctors to try and ease me through it as much as possible." Presea shivered once as her body recalled the agony it had recently endured.

"How did this happen?" Sheena found herself asking as she looked over Presea's aged form before she found herself wondering how Genis may have taken this sudden transformation.

"Regal could only assume what happened to me." Presea confessed as she looked down towards the ground. "It seems when Lloyd placed this key crest on me and saved me from this exsphere that has been implanted in my chest well...he stopped it's effects that prevented me from ageing, at least he thinks so." Presea spoke as her hand instinctively reached up to gently caress the golden surface of the perfectly shined key crest that Lloyd spent hours to slave over to try and make perfect. The gesture actually made Sheena little nervous, seeing how Presea was tenderly touching along the key crest with an affection that Presea may not even know she had. "It took some time but my body started to change—very rapidly—it was painful." she sighed out.

"It...it was?" Sheena asked in a worried tone as her brown eyes left the golden key crest to Preasea's face. "How do you think your body would feel if your bones started to expand and your body was forced to stretch and grow, muscles tearing from the muscles as they struggled to keep up with the progression of your growth? Your jaw dislocating because your skull is fracturing. If you can try and picture that then you can understand why it was the most physically painful experience of my life." Presea said in a somewhat cold manner, shades of her former personally—or lack thereof—surfacing once more.

The information being told to her was powerful enough to send that uneasy shiver tingling down Sheena's back as she adverted her eyes.

"I...I'm sorry...I didn't think of that." Sheena whispered lightly.

"I was bed ridden for weeks, as I said before that Regal spent a lot of resources nursing me back to health. The doctors even wondered how I survived such an unheard phenomenon, if it was not for my will that I would have died. But I could not let myself die...not yet, not until I could do something." Presea gave a light smile, Sheena was still getting used to how much emotion the pink haired warrior was now capable of.

"What would that be?" Sheena wondered.

"I could not let myself die until I told Lloyd...thank you." Presea closed her eyes as she leaned forward and placed her chin on her crossed hands as she leaned on her axe once more. Sheena felt that little sting of jealousy enter her heart at first before she let it pass as she gave a smile in understanding and nodded. "Lloyd is wonderful that way...he has touched so many lives."

One thing that Sheena let herself be comforted in was the fact that Presea was no longer a young girl nor was she a woman around their age, in fact Presea a woman whose age was decently close to that of Regal.

"I have to admit, Lloyd is more handsome than I remember." Presea idly commented as Sheena blinked once and felt her nerves twitch for a moment.

Then again.

Zelos slammed against the wall, the force causing the surface to crack as he fell to the ground once more as he coughed out in agony and fatigue. The entire room was torn upside and the sad fact that Zelos had to accept that the fact that it was his body that was used to mess the entire room up...Valemeros had not even moved from his spot and what was even worse, after the young noble had thrown the red haired chosen for the fourth time, he had picked up one of the books from the ground and casually flipped through the pages while effortlessly discarding his attacks.

'Is this how it ends for the great Zelos?' he could not help but bitterly think as he gave a very light smirk, somehow managing to breath out a weak laugh before he pushed himself back to his feet. His body rebelled, it felt like his bones were becoming brittle and his muscles burned aflame. "Ah well...if this is how it must be." Zelos muttered out as care free as possible.

One last boost of courage was all Zelos had left in him as he gripped the hilt of his sword tight once more and pushed off his foot to charge one last time at the noble that stood before him.

"Zelos! Stop! Please!" Seles suddenly screamed out as she stood in between him and his target as Zelos snapped back to one reality and that was the fact that Seles was still in the room.

Zelos stopped his charge as he lowered his sword, only to feel the arms of Seles wrap around him as her small frame pushed against him, trying to create distance between the noble and the Chosen of Mana.

"Now that you are done...perhaps you shall listen to what I have to say?" Valemeros casually commented as he lifted his eyes from the pages of the book to look over to the sibling couple.

"You don't have anything to say that I would listen to to." Zelos sneered, knowing that Valemeros had Sheena in his capture, or at least last he knew.

"Zelos...please." Seles pleaded as she clasped onto his shirt, tugging on it lightly.

"What did you do to my sister?" Zelos growled out suddenly noticing how much Seles was trying to put for him to listen to the young noble, the man that he knew was planning something that was not going to be good for either of the two lands.

"I did not do anything." Valemeros casually shrugged as he looked towards the now cracked windows of the library. "Can you not believe that she is just wishing for your well-being and that is something I can bring to you?"

"I don't want anything from you." Zelos defiantly jeered as he looked down to Seles and the only thing he could think of was getting his younger sister away from Valemeros as soon as possible. Placing an arm around his younger sister he turned her slowly and started to walk towards the door. When she was safe and out of harms way, they could continue their battle to whatever end it may bring...even if it turned out to be a bitter end.

"Really? Not even if it were the promise of the safety of those who mean the most to you?" Valemeros smirked as he closed the book with a thump of the pages, watching as Zelos's battered form walked towards the door. "The safety of both woman you care for?"

Zelos froze on the spot as he blinked once, his head slowly turning to the smirking expression of Valemeros as the noble arched an eyebrow while letting the book fall from his hand to the floor at his feet.

"You heard me...not only their safety...but what if you could the love and affection of one you wished." Valemeros spoke with a smooth tone to his whisper. "I...can bring this to you."

Zelos narrowed his eyes skeptically before feeling the slender fingers of his sister rake lightly across his shoulder as his eyes glanced down to his beloved younger sibling.

"Just listen to what he has to say first, brother." Seles insisted.

Zelos had to get to the bottom of this, for Seles's sake...the man did something to her, he would have to be careful however. Valemeros was showing to be a snake-tongued manipulator who cleverly hid dark shadows in his offers.

Sheena walked through the hallways of the winter resort, she felt herself at a loss for what to saw to Lloyd when she managed to find the courage to face him. She felt that he needed someone right now to help him find his way...and she had hoped that maybe that someone could be her. Colette used to be the one that Lloyd used to depend and that was something that Sheena did envy greatly was the bond between the two but now over their years of travel...maybe Sheena did not have any reason to be jealous of their bond anymore because of the bond that had formed between the both of them.

She had walked passed his door at least a dozen times now before she managed to just breath out, gather everything she had in her body and soul as she acted before she gave it too much thought and would cause the chain reaction of procrastination and contemplation; it was that sudden action that made Sheena painfully aware that she was already knocking on his door.

With the muscles of her throat tightening already from the tension of realizing that there was no turning back for now that she had knocked on his door. The only thing she could do now was look down at the floor at her feet as her fingers fiddled with the edges of her purple tunic while her heart raced inside her chest as she waited for an answer on the other side.

"Who is it? The door is open, come on in." Lloyd called out from the wooden barrier in front of the purple ninja.

Swallowing hard one more time, Sheena pressed her hands against her soft tunic and slowly pushed it smooth as she gave a sigh out and focused her eyes on on the door handle for the small second that lasted eternity in her mind. Touching the handle with the tips of her fingers, she turned the handle until the thunderous click of the lock invaded her ears and allowed Sheena to push the door open as her heart stopped for a moment.

Sheena shivered once when she opened the door to his room, it was filled with a fresh rain forest scent...the gentle and welcoming scent of Lloyd that Sheena had come to love. The moist heat in the room actually gave it away that the young swordsman had recently taken a shower and that thought actually worked very well to make Sheena second guess her strength to meet with Lloyd right now. She had gone this far however and she was not going to go back now—as much as her feet wished to choose the flight option and dash silently and gracefully across the carpeted hallways to retreat to her own room. A strength she underestimated inside her pushed her forward as she walked into the lightly steam misted room, biting her lip as she crossed her hands over her lap and kept her head lowered just enough so her eyes saw only floor.

"Uh...Hi..." Sheena muttered out nervously as she held her breath for a moment.

The thought went through her mind how Lloyd held so much control over her to this day, they had spent years travelling together and he still had a way of making her a nervous little girl who was lost without him...she found herself wondering again exactly when she became so dependant on him—when she realized that she needed him in her life.

"Oh...Hello Sheena." Lloyd said somewhat grimly; Sheena knew that tone all too well...Lloyd was troubled and his thoughts had not solved anything.

"I...do you have some time to talk?" Sheena fumbled with her wording as she did her best to focus on trying to keep her nervousness in check as her brown eyes slowly looked up to see Lloyd was staring out of the window with both his hands flat on the window sill and his eyes were actually looking into the reflection of the glass to look at Sheena with his absent stare, the eyes of a deeply troubled man.

"Sure...it might actually help." Lloyd confessed.

"Do you want to talk about it? To me...I mean." Sheena asked while rubbing her forearm lightly as she felt her brown eyes gaze to the side at Lloyd's bed as she awaited an answer.

"It is never easy...is it?" Lloyd muttered as his eyes closed.

"What do you mean?" Sheena blinked once.

"When I was going to school...sometimes Raine would read these long stories that I did not pay much attention to at the time...but the things I did understand was that there was a good side that had to stop this great evil to save the day...but now that we are actually living that adventure...it is not so easy, our enemies are not so easily separated...you always learn more about them that makes it harder for me to condone taking a life." Lloyd spoke with a light ring of despair in his tone.

"Lloyd..." Sheena breathed out softly as she slowly advanced on the troubled swordsman. "You have been in here all this time trying to think this through alone?"

"It is my problem...I did not want to drag anyone else into what I have been trying to sort out." Lloyd sighed once, Sheena could see him in the reflection of the windows and watched as his eyes come to a close while the swordsman became lost in his own thoughts.

"Lloyd...nothing is just your problem." Sheena started as she walked over and found herself hesitating for a moment as her hands lifted towards his back. Her hands hovered over his back before she jerked them back just a little. "It never was just yours to face, Lloyd...it is ours to face with you." Sheena whispered before she bit the bullet and placed her hands on his shoulder blades lightly, leaning her head against the back of his neck as she pressed herself against him to comfort the young man. She could not imagine the strain that must have been on Lloyd...asking a young teen to save the world was stressing enough on him but now he must play the savour one more time as a young man. "Let us face this together Lloyd...tell me what is on your mind." Sheena urged softly as she dragged her fingertips against his jacket lightly while closing her own eyes.

"I...I am not sure how to find the words for it." Lloyd confessed.

"Then...let me stay here until you do? So I can be here when you need me." Sheena nervously asked as she felt herself nibble lightly on her bottom lip as every second that passed tormented her until his response could come.

"...Thank you...Sheena." Lloyd answered as she felt him breath out, his heart beat calmed her as she heard it through his back.

"Always..." Sheena reassured in soft comfort.

How many days had passed since the former noble and president had been hung in the dungeons and forgotten like a worthless criminal? If he did make a guess he knew that at least three days had already passed and the only thing he was allowed was the criminals provisions of water and scrap foods. He did not brother trying to speak to the guards to get his audience, they were trained not to listen to a word he said...and so like he did when he took the life of that dearest to him, Regal suffered in silence as the days went by.

The invading sounds of footsteps could be heard coming towards the prison cell; that sound gave Regal hope that someone from the council was coming to allow him at least an audience to explain his actions personally to the King. He was after all one of the kings trusted friends, he would want an explanation from Regal personally before deciding what to do with him.

Pulling himself up so he could stand as proud as possible, Regal lifted his head towards the door only to hear the key slip into the door and with the jerking twist of the iron rod came the ringing click of the lock coming undone. The room was dominated with an onslaught of light as the mana crystals burned to life and forced Regal to grunt in pain as his eyes forced themselves shut for a moment until he could get used to the mana induced light that filled the dungeon chamber.

"Mr. Bryant, President of the Lezerano company turned terrorist to the free world of Tethe'alla and the sovereign of the crown. Tsk tsk." the fuzzy yet familiar voice sounded into the empty cell, the tone was dry...lacking any distinct character to the tone but he could tell who it was.

"Valemeros, head of House Yogsorrow." Regal grimly stated as he peaked one eye open, looking at the darkened silhouette of the twisted half-elven noble.

"A pleasure to see you again, Mr. Bryant...you know I was deeply hurt that you decided to attack me that night." Valemeros mocked while holding back a chuckle as Regal could hear the obvious sarcasm in his voice.

"What do you want, Lord Valemeros?" Regal grunted once as he pulled at his wrists.

"Oh...those manacles painful? I shall assume they are. That will not concern you soon however...I am here to tell you that judgement has already been passed down on you...and Mr. Irving." Valemeros smirked as he reached into his robe and pulled out a paper parchment.

"What?" Regal felt his voice raise suddenly.

"An emergency tribunal was hosted, addressing this growing threat of Sylvarant and possible uprising against the ways of Tethe'alla. You have been found as both a sympathizer and agitator as well as found guilty for conspiracy against the crown. Lloyd Irving has been found guilty as a war criminal, spreading hate and slander against the crown while rising a revolutionary army." Valemeros stated as he read from the opened scroll, looking over the paper towards Regal with a suddenly smirk on his face. "Lezerano Company, all files and assets have been seized and shall undergo investigation by one trusted of the crown...Lord Valemeros Yogsorrow shall undergo the investigation."

The words that were being read in the report sent shivers down the spine of Regal as the noble realized that Valemeros was not as reckless or careless as he may have perceived, the man was adapting to whatever twists may have happened to his plan and manipulated it to benefit him...Lezerano Company was now under his command and Regal could do nothing about it.

"What...is my sentence? I demand to speak with the king." Regal exclaimed as he pulled at his shackles for a moment. Regal knew that Valemeros had the testimonies of the surviving Knights from their encounter that one fateful night but he did not think that that would be enough for the King to drop such serious charges and even consider what ever advice Valemeros gave to not allow Regal to be present for his own tribunal.

"A terrorist has no rights in our kingdoms, Mr. Bryant...you know that. The testimony of a surviving, frightened Sylvarant girl saw Lloyd himself destroy her village because they would not hand over their exspheres. The sole survivor of Luin, she is now in protective custody. As if her testimony was not enough to bring the actions of Lloyd Irving to light, the testimony of the former Chosen of Tethe'alla was more than enough for the council to see reason." Valemeros smirked as he rolled up the scroll.

"The Chosen?" Regal uttered in disbelief. "You couldn't mean-"

Before Regal could complete his sentence he saw the silhouette of another figure come from the opening of the door and it did not take long for Regal to recognize the man now standing just a pace behind Valemeros. "Zelos? You didn't...tell me you didn't lie to the council about Lloyd." Regal demanded as he pulled at the shackles once more.

"I did." Zelos stated in a sharp tone, similar to the one he used when he revealed himself to be in league with Pronyma. "I would do it again too if I had to." Zelos carelessly shrugged as he looked to the side.

"Why?" Regal stated.

"Why? I am tired of always being the one who does not get what he wants in the end...Lloyd got everything." Zelos frowned while looking to the wall of the dungeon still.

"You betrayed your friends for fame and fortune? Things you already had? How can you justify that? How can you look at yourself?" Regal sneered, allowing his emotions to flood to the surface as he felt his muscles tense and his teeth press together in anger and resentment.

"Fame and fortunes I got...I don't need them, why would I ever want more of that?" Zelos laughed off as if it were nothing.

"This is not a game Zelos, stop playing them and tell me why you would do this." Regal demanded in a more firm tone that actually gave off the volume of a scolding fatherly figure.

"Hey, I am not treating this like a game...believe it or not I can be serious." Zelos frowned as he looked over to Regal finally. The young chosen looked to Valemeros. "There are few things in this world I would do anything and everything for."

"He has your sister in capture, doesn't he? Playing along with his plans won't free her."

"Hah!" Zelos scoffed as he brushed the red bangs from his forehead. "Seles was the one that encouraged me to speak with Valemeros, he also brought me the testimony of the little girl, the survivor from Luin and it was through her words I found out that Lloyd is not so...idealist as we thought and thanks to him, he is leading Sheena down his road as well...I can't leave her like that." Zelos stated dryly as he turned around, looking to the door frame.

"Sheena...that is who you are doing this for now, you think you are trying to save Sheena." Regal frowned.

"Sheena was mine before Lloyd came along..." Zelos suddenly spoke in a firm tone as he turned around suddenly, his irritation and aggression filling the air around him.

"Zelos...no...you cannot give into this jealousy...you're better than this, Zelos." Regal tried to reassure.

"Shut up, old man, you are just too close to Lloyd to see the big picture."

"Spoken from someone that is blinded by emotions, that statement lacks conviction." Regal commented in a monotone manner.

"That is quite enough, Zelos...I need to speak with Mr. Bryant alone." Valemeros stated as he tossed the scroll to the Chosen of Tethe'alla.

The young red-head gave a nod while taking his leave of the chamber.

"It was actually quite simple." Valemeros stated in an amused manner as he pulled out a reflective stone that resembled crystallized mercury.

Regal knew he could have asked what he meant by such a statement or even make the bold claim that all he needs to do is speak with the king, but he was not going to give anything for the half-elven noble to use against him or reveal anything that Regal had going on in his mind.

"All it took was Seles telling me everything about her older brother that she cherished so dearly to know exactly how to use such to my advantage." Valemeros continued as he flipped the mercury stone along his fingers casually.

"You miserable little letch." Regal felt himself cussing the noble.

"The word of the Chosen hold power and control in this kingdom...not to mention his power from his Cruxis Crystal; I have seen the power of exspheres that were made in attempt to be a Cruxis Crystal." Valemeros recalled as he remembered the power that the pink-haired female held against him before he raised his right hand to look at the back of his hand, the exsphere that was apart of another project laid underneath the gloved surface as his hand slowly closed into a fist. "I figured if imitation crystals can boost so much power...a Cruxis Crystal..." Valemeros spoke softly as he slide the mercury orb along his palm with his thumb, before closing his hand. "Shall be a useful little ally to have." Valemeros chuckled lightly before looking from his hand to Regal. "And you...I shall assume you are waiting for the moment to manipulate the opportunity to speak to the king and pray on his mercy to give you the chance to expose me for what I am...aren't you?" Valemeros gave a suddenly chuckle before stepping in close. "You know...ever since the events that took place two years ago, you and the king have become quite close." Valemeros observed as he pocketed the mercury orb and smirked at Regal. "Oh you do not need to say anything...it is written over your face what you had planned...all over your emotionless face." Valemeros continued with a light chuckle once more.

"Get to the point." Regal spoke in his same monotone voice.

"The point is this...the king's usefulness is about to reach it's end. All that I need him to do is to start this war between Tethe'alla and Sylvarant...and then all he needs to do is die." Valemeros whispered as he placed a hand on Regal's shoulder while leaning in a little close. "I figured you should know...being as close as brothers and all and I figured I might as well be considerate and give the king a brother to greet him on the other side." Valemeros grinned widely before yanking on Regal's shoulder.

Regal suddenly let out a grunt as pressure was felt against his gut, quickly followed by a sudden burning sensation as every muscle in his body tensed, his eyes slowly dropped to look down to see a familiar tanto impaled into his gut, the surface seemed to be coated with some liquid substance. Regal jerked against the chains as agony started to melt his every nerves but his efforts were quickly realized to be in vain as his body became stiff and his lips parted to try and utter something out loud. Valemeros twisted the tanto in his gut so Regal's body was forced to convulse before Valemeros stood back, pulling out a piece of cloth as he wiped his hands and gave a slight smirk.

"Both of us being nobles...also means we are like a form of brothers as well, Bryant...so please, be a kind elder brother and meet our brother on the other side." Valemeros laughed out loud as he turned around towards the door and walked to make his leave. "I will be sure to not keep you waiting long...our other "brother" shall be joining you shortly."

Regal felt blood trickle out of the corner of his lips as his body instantly felt heavy and he realized quickly that he was going to bleed out. The only think left he had to look forward to was the welcome of darkness as he passed into a slumber he would never wake up from. Valemeros glanced over his shoulder and gave a sly smirk before touching the side of the walls, turning the mana crystals off as he closed the door and left Regal to his blanket of darkness. The clicking of the door acted like the final nail that was placed his coffin. Regal only grasped onto one regret as he felt his life ebb from his existence...and that was that he could not see Presea one last time and that he could not protect her from the half-elf that was seeking to destroy everything in his path.

"I'm...sorry..." Regal uttered out as he let his head fall and let the darkness claim him one final time.